Etymology

desultory

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Today it means: Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; lacking logical sequence. Full definition →

Latin dēsultōrius
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromdēsultōrius“hasty, casual, superficial”
  2. English todaydesultory

From Latin dēsultōrius (“hasty, casual, superficial”), from dēsultor (“a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another”), from dēsiliō (“jump down”), from dē (“down”) + saliō (“jump, leap”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.